Skip to content | Change text size
 

Monash prevents European road accidents

28 February 2007

Professor Brian Fildes from the Monash University Accident Research Centre, led discussions on reducing senior European road fatalities.

Experts from across Europe gathered at the Monash University Prato centre recently to discuss current and planned projects in accident research.

Participants included representatives from Renault, Volvo, Fiat, Nissan and Volkswagen, and the National Transport Research Institutes of France, Sweden and Denmark, alongside researchers from a broad group of European universities.

Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) researchers Professor Brian Fildes and Mr Jim Langford led a round of discussions on technological and design features to assist the safe mobility of older drivers.

"Older drivers generally have a high involvement rate in serious injury crashes, and demographic changes in most Western societies are likely to lead to higher crash levels for these people without appropriate interventions," Professor Fildes said.

"Developments in vehicle technology and design promise to improve older drivers' safety and allow them to maintain reasonable levels of mobility, however, the ability of older people to use these safety features effectively is not established."

Expert group members representing a range of disciplines and occupations including health, human factors, safety and traffic engineering, social planning, vehicle manufacturers and designers, road safety researchers and social planners joined the discussions.

The discussions were aimed at forming a project consortium for European Seventh Framework (FP7) funding.

"There was strong support for the proposed project and now we will commence work on putting together a successful submission," Professor Fildes said.

The discussions were followed by meetings of the 4m Euro TRACE project (Traffic Accident Causation in Europe), for which MUARC is a major subcontractor. This two-year project, led by the joint Peugeot/Citroën/Renault accident research lab, aims to identify and assess the safety benefits of technologies.

 Dr Annamaria Pagliaro, Director of the Prato Centre, said that at a government and industry level, Europe was a major investor in automotive research and development, and home to manufacturers that have consistently led the world in innovations for accident and injury prevention.

"I am delighted that our presence in Prato helps Monash consolidate its high profile among some of the key decision makers in this field," Dr Pagliaro said.